Companies with more diverse boards 'tend to perform better'

Good governance, a signal of progress and overall benefits are likely to be seen by boards with a gender balance.

This is according to Jane Diplock, whose roles include the director of Singapore Exchange Limited the Australian Financial Services Group.

She commented in new report from Deloitte, which looked at the role of women in the boardroom and legislative efforts being made to address this issue.

Ms Diplock said there may not be any need to introduce obligatory quotas if more companies realised the advantages of a balanced team.

"It is increasingly being recognised as a badge of good governance and therefore desirable. Investors should demand it," she added.

Two other female directors were asked to contribute and their remarks suggested similar positive aspects of including women on more boards.

Maggie Wilderotter is chairman and chief executive officer of Frontier Communications - among other roles - and said the issue simply boils down to common sense and respect.

Earlier this month, the Conference Board highlighted the benefits of board diversity following its development of an interactive model that enables users to assess the impact of a better gender balance.